


Dead Drop

by flynnparadox



Series: Alien: Evolution [4]
Category: Alien (Prequel Movies), Alien Quadrilogy (Movies)
Genre: Blood and Gore, Blood and Violence, F/F, Monsters, Non-binary character, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-15 04:42:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28807521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flynnparadox/pseuds/flynnparadox
Summary: It was supposed to be a simple job. Call and Ripley 8 set down on the planet Iapetus so that Call can take care of some business. But what was meant to be a mere errand turns out to be a desperate fight for survival against creatures that neither of them have faced before.
Relationships: Annalee Call/Ellen Ripley
Series: Alien: Evolution [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2100264
Comments: 12
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

Baker looked down the vast open space. He was standing on a catwalk overlooking the pit. He could see the pulsing blue power source emanating from the bottom of the shaft.  
The creature was dead. Surely.  
He had kicked it in the chest and it had toppled off the catwalk and into the shaft. Baker had watched it tumbled and spin as it fell.  
Yes, it was dead. He allowed himself a moment of quiet celebration. But not a very long one. He had to get moving. Regroup with the others.  
He proceeded down the catwalk, his footfalls echoing back to him with a metallic twang in the large space. He had become separated from the others in the firefight but he knew that they would be heading for the communications control center, some levels above. So that's where he was headed.  
He checked his rifle, shook his head - "Fuck" - and kept moving. Only half a clip left. The situation was getting worse by the second.  
He reached the end of the catwalk and proceeded into the main complex of the building. The corridor he emerged into was lit by flashing, strobing yellow/red lights. Emergency lights. It was disorienting, to say the least.  
The end of the corridor split off, both right and left as well as a door forward leading to a stairwell. Baker looked right, then left, then at the doorway.  
He figured that the right and left corridors led to maintenance and systems areas of the complex. Communications control would be on a higher level.  
He nodded to himself and opened the door to the stairwell as quietly as he could manage. It still creaked a little.  
There were no lights in the stairwell, not even emergency lights. Baker wiped a healthy sheen of sweat from his brow and flicked on the light attached to the barrel of his rifle. It barely seemed to penetrate the deep dark of the stairwell.  
He quickly shined the light onto the stairwell leading down. Presumably, that led to deeper levels in the complex set aside for maintaining the power source. He saw nothing down the stairwell so proceeded up.  
As he slowly climbed the stairs, his breathing sped up, became more labored. Panic was beginning to set in. He stopped and made himself take a few long, deep breaths. He let his combat training take over.  
When he felt better, he continued up. Rounding a landing, he stopped again.  
Standing facing a corner on the landing was one of those things. It stood perfectly still, stiff as a board. Standing over two meters tall, thin and dead white. Elongated head. A tail that ended in a deadly spike.  
Baker couldn't see its face at the moment but he had certainly seen the face of the one that he had kicked off the catwalk. This one would be much the same: featureless with only a tiny hole for a mouth. Until it opened up that mouth to take a bite. Then the mouth would be massive and full of teeth.  
Slowly, he backed away from the creature. It hadn't noticed him yet. That was good. Maybe he could get back down to the catwalk level. Find another way up. Maybe there was an elevator that was working or at least one that he could pry open and climb up.  
As he backed down the stairs, rifle aimed at the creature above as it slowly disappeared into the darkness again, he bumped into something. Something standing in the stairwell behind him.  
He froze. Closed his eyes in fear.  
He could hear hissing behind him. This was it. Do or die. No turning back now.  
He psyched himself up. Took a few quick breaths, wiped away the sweat once again. Then he swung around as fast as he could, leading with his rifle.  
He didn't even get close.  
The three neomorphs standing behind him attacked at once. One of them was bent over on all fours. It came for his left leg, latching on and biting into his calf, tearing out a chunk of muscle. A second one went for his gun arm - his right - and neatly snapped it off at the elbow.  
Baker screamed as the rest of his arm dropped to the stairs, rifle in hand. He didn't even manage to squeeze out a round or two.  
The final neomorph went for his face. It bit away most of his left cheek. Baker could feel his eyeball pop from the attack. He screamed louder.  
The final neomorph struck again, biting into his neck. It jaw was so powerful that Baker's head was severed instantly.  
All at once, there was nothing but blackness.

The colony had been abandoned some twenty years ago. It lay nestled among the rolling, green hills of the planet Iapetus, laid out in a simple grid systems. Nature had overtaken the pre-fab buildings and vehicles left behind when the strip-mining dried up. Weeds broke through concrete while vines climbed up the sides of every structure.  
Ripley 8 set the Betty down on a landing pad on the outskirts of the colony. She and Call exited the ship. They had left Johner and Vriess to pick up supplies on another planet in the same system while they ran this little errand.  
Ripley sighed as the two of them walked down the ramp. "Where is it?"  
Call pointed. "There. About a hundred meters."  
Ripley looked. A huge, white building towered over the colony. Atop it was a massive transmitter antenna. Its dish was gigantic. It pointed towards the heavens.  
Ripley nodded. "Alright. That way, I suppose."  
The two of them made for the building. As the structure slowly grew in her field of vision, Ripley instinctively checked her weapon. It was a combination machine gun/flame unit. A nice piece that Vriess had mocked up. She turned to Call. Frowned. As usual, Call had opted for a simple cartridge pistol, tucked into her belt. Ripley tried to keep her voice light. "So, what's the plan?"  
Call frowned. "Plan?"  
Ripley swirled a hand through the air. "Yeah, a plan. In case anything happens."  
"What would happen?" Call asked.  
"Anything," Ripley insisted, gesturing at the huge building. "Anything could happen in there. Look at it."  
Call did. Shook her head. "Nothing's ever happened before."  
Ripley sighed. "So that means it's a perfectly safe space, does it? A haven." She scoffed. "When was the last time you were here?"  
Call shrugged. "I don't know."  
"Don't give me that," Ripley said. "You know exactly how long it's been."  
Call looked down. "One year, two months, five days." A pause. "Six hours--"  
Ripley nodded and interrupted her. "You see? It's been a while. Who knows what could have happened here in that time."  
"It'll only take a few minutes," Call said. "Ten, tops."  
Ripley ran a hand across her shaved head as she looked at the building. "I don't like it."  
"All I have to do is patch into the computer," Call said. "I've done it a dozen times already. I have a hidden file in the mainframe. My sister checks it whenever she's able to make it out this way. She, in turn, spreads that information to the few us that are still alive."  
Ripley was silent for a moment. Then she spoke, choosing her words carefully. "I know how important this is to you. I'm not discounting that. All I'm saying is that it's dangerous. Extremely dangerous."  
"Well, we're already here," Call said. "Nothing looks out of place to me."  
They were, indeed, here. The massive building looked down on Ripley from up high, seeming to judge her. And find her wanting. Ripley shook her head again. Sighed again. "Let's go."

It was easy getting inside. The perimeter fence was in ruins. The locks on the big double doors to the building had been destroyed long ago. Call let Ripley lead the way, her new rifle swinging through the dark central room. She understood the woman's reticence. She was just looking out for the two of them. Call smiled.  
But it really was a simple job. In and out. It's just that Ripley hadn't accompanied her before. In the early days, Ripley kept a certain distance between herself and the others. Call knew that she liked all of them, in her own way, but she was being cautious. Not wanting to get too close.  
The events on the floating satellites of the Dyson Ring - some two months ago now - had changed all that. That's when the two of them had become more than partners. More than friends. Lovers.  
Call put a hand on Ripley's shoulder. The woman jumped and Call immediately withdrew her hand. Ripley was like a coiled snake. Always ready to strike.  
"Sorry," Call said.  
Ripley nodded, not looking back at Call. "It's alright."  
To their immediate right was a security station. To their left, a door. Call knew that it led to a small room where workers had left their personal items before starting the day. Ahead of them was another wall with three elevators and a small door off to the far right. All of this was long abandoned, of course. Nature had begun to overtake the building. Weeds circled the exterior of the structure.  
Ripley circled the room, seemed satisfied. Turned to Call. "Where to?"  
Call indicated the door to the far right ahead of them. "The stairwell. Our destination is quite a ways up."  
Ripley led the way. They passed the non-working elevators to the stairwell door.  
Call was about to open it when Ripley stopped her - "Wait" - and gently pushed her lover out of the way. She listened to the door for a moment. Call studied her, still mystified by her after all this time. Finally, Ripley seemed satisfied and opened the door.  
The two of them headed inside. And up.  
The stairway was dark. Call reached into the small pouch on her belt and pulled out a plastic stick. She activated it and it came to life, emitting a bright green light that filled the interior of the stairwell.  
They were four flights up when Ripley stopped suddenly. Call did the same. "What?"  
Ripley shushed her. She looked about but seemed to be listening more than anything else. She whispered to Call. "Something's in here with us."  
Call whispered as well. "Are we turning back?"  
Ripley shook her her head. "I can hear them coming up the stairs. They're hunting us." She turned to Call. "How much further?"  
"Three more flights up," Call said.  
Ripley sighed. "I don't know if we'll make it in time. If it's them... And it feels like them. If it's the aliens, then we might be fucked if we have a firefight here in the stairwell. Their blood is going to get everywhere."  
Call nodded. "So we keep going."  
Ripley's reply was silent. She proceeded up the stairs, as quick as she could manage. Call had to work overtime to keep up.  
Now she could hear them, too. Screeching as they ascended the stairs towards them.  
They got two more flights up before something dropped from the underside of a shadowed stairwell. Something ahead of them. Something waiting. Something tall, thin, white and nightmarish.  
It dropped between the two of them. Ripley in front, Call behind it.  
Ripley whirled around, weapon aimed. Call could see that she wanted to fire but was afraid that she would endanger her lover's life with either bullets or spurting acid blood.  
"Call!" Ripley said. "Get down!"  
It took Call a moment to react. The creature that stood in front of her was like the xenomorph but also quite different. She couldn't even see a mouth.  
Then its face seemed to open up, revealing a huge mouth full of sharp teeth. Call yelped and dropped to the floor.  
The thing struck out but Ripley risked serious injury by firing into its back. The creature shrieked in pain and tumbled over Call. Call could feel its blood splash all over her.  
She braced for the pain as the acid blood ate into her synthetic flesh. But it didn't come.  
Ripley was already grabbing her by the arm and pulling her up. Both of them could hear more of the things coming up the stairs. Too many of them.  
Behind them, the door to the level opened up. Someone was standing in the doorway. "Get in! Come on!"  
Ripley and Call didn't think. Just acted. They both stormed through the door. The person who opened it for them slammed it shut behind them.  
Call could hear the creatures on the other side of the door. They were shrieking. Screaming in rage.  
Ripley took hold of Call with both hands. She looked concerned. "Are you hurt?"  
Call shook her head. "No. I'm okay. Its blood... It didn't do anything to me. What are those things?"  
Ripley shrugged. "Fuck if I know."  
The two of them turned to regard their savior. Staring back at them were five people. All of them had weapons pointed at the two women.


	2. Chapter 2

The room they found themselves in was a lounge area set aside for employees back when the building was still filled with people. There were couches and old, broken vending machines. A table sat overturned nearby.  
Their five captors looked like soldiers. An elite unit. Tactical black fatigues. Marked faces. They looked scared, more than one of them on the edge of panic.  
A tall, powerfully-built man with dark skin stepped forward. "I'll be having those weapons, if you please."  
Call handed her pistol over immediately. Looked at her lover. Ripley hesitated, staring at the man, as if sizing him up. Finally, she lowered her rifle, turned it around in her hands and gave it to the man.  
He stowed the pistol in his belt and admired the rifle. He looked at Ripley, nodded. "Nice. Custom?"  
Ripley didn't answer him so Call did. "Yes."  
"I'm impressed," the man said. "Name's Paris. And we're all just being cautious. You understand."  
Ripley remained silent. Paris turned to the rest of the unit. They all seemed to relax a bit. Their weapons dipped to the floor now.  
They all introduced themselves. Most of them were curt, to-the-point. Lee was a short and stocky blonde woman with a scar across her right cheek. Syn was a man who looked like a rhino, his skin cracked and callused. Amos was an unassuming young man. He looked out of place compared to the rest of the soldiers. As Call watched, he scratched at his neck. It was red, irritated.  
Finally, there was Traek. At first, Call thought that Traek was a woman but, after a second look, she wasn't so sure. Traek seemed to have characteristics common to both women and men. Their skin was olive, their eyes a pale blue, their hair black and tied up near the top of her head in the back.  
Ripley sighed. "Well, now that we know each other, maybe you can fill us in on what the fuck is going on here. And what those things in the stairwell are."  
"They're aliens," Syn said, simply.  
Ripley smiled. "I can see that."  
"You're wondering where they came from," Traek said, an interested look on her face.  
"What makes you say that?" Ripley asked.  
Traek paused for a moment. "How do you know that they aren't native to this planet?"  
"They aren't," Ripley replied.  
"So sure of yourself," Traek said.  
Ripley smirked. "I have my moments."  
Call looked between the two of them, finally settling her gaze on Ripley. "Can you please stop flirting?"  
Ripley raised her eyebrows. "Flirting?"  
It was Call's turn to raise her eyebrows. Ripley silently nodded.  
"Okay, okay," Amos said. "So you two seem like you've had a few encounters with hostile aliens. Haven't we all? That doesn't make us friends. We don't owe you anything."  
"You have our weapons," Ripley said. "I think that entitles us to an explanation. At the very least."  
Lee looked annoyed. Amos sighed. Paris stepped forward. "A crew of smugglers crash landed here. To the north, among the hills. They made their way here. Sent out a distress signal. But..." He trailed off. Shook his head.  
Syn piped up. "They had something. Something in their cargo. A spore. It did something to them. All of them."  
Call was interested. "A spore?"  
Syn nodded but it was Traek who spoke up at this point. "They were carrying food. Exotic plants. Stuff like that. There were these... seed pods in among the plants. They broke when the ship crashed. Must have released something into the air. The smugglers breathed them in and it made something grow in their bodies. When they erupted from them, the creatures grew into those things you saw out there."  
Ripley and Call shared a knowing look. Traek caught the look.  
"You two know something," they said. "Something you're not telling us. What is it?"  
"We've fought..." Call searched for the right words, "creatures like these. But not the same."  
Syn chuckled. "Looks like the ladies are a couple'a alien killers. Come on. They don't know a fucking thing."  
Paris shook his head. "I'm not so sure."  
Lee approached the two of them, her rifle once again pointed at them. "You better tells us what you know."  
Ripley smiled. Her lips were mere centimeters away from the barrel of Lee's weapon. She leaned in and kissed the barrel. Whispered. "You haven't told us what you're doing here."  
"We've said enough!" Amos said.  
Ripley shook her head. "I don't think you have. I don't think you responded to these smugglers' distress signal. Or, at least, I don't think you came to help. You're an elite unit. USM? Black ops, maybe? Yeah, that's it. You're here under orders. And what orders would those be, exactly? Would it be to capture one of these creatures? Or one of those spore pods?" Syn and Lee looked at each other. "That's it, isn't it?"  
Syn joined Lee and pointed his weapon in Call's face. "Let's do 'em both right now!"  
Ripley didn't even look at him. Kept her gaze on Lee as she spoke to Syn. "If you don't get that gun out of my girlfriend's face in about five seconds, I'm going to put you through that wall. Do you understand?" Now she looked at him. But, to Call, it appeared as if she was looking right through him. Like he didn't matter at all. "Tell me you understand."  
Syn was sweating. His eyes on Ripley, but his weapon still aimed at Call.  
Then all of them heard a tapping. Something in the infrastructure of the room. They all looked around.  
"The fuck is that?" Paris asked.  
He slung Ripley's rifle across his back and settled the large bag that he carried under one arm. Walked across the room looking for the source of the sound. "Everybody hear that?"  
Amos followed behind the man a few meters. He raised his weapon, looked about nervously.  
Paris had reached the far wall. He leaned in, listening. "Coming from here."  
Call saw the ventilation grate before anyone else. She knocked away the barrel of Syn's rifle and started running towards Paris. Syn's trigger finger was itchy and he instinctively squeezed off a round. The thermal round shot into the ceiling of the room, burning a hole through it.  
Ripley started to move, as well, but Lee shoved the barrel of her weapon into the woman's cheek. "Don't move! I will fucking kill you."  
"Get away from there!" Call screamed.  
But it was too late. The grating right at Paris' feet burst open and a large, white monster grabbed the man by his ankles. Before he could react, Paris was yanked into the air duct feet first.  
He screamed in terror. Then pain as the torn grating cut into his flesh as he was pulled inside.  
Amos dropped to the floor and scrambled to his fellow soldier. Paris was half in/half out of the air duct, his arms flailing about. Amos grabbed him with both hands. Their fingers locked together.  
"Don't let go!" Paris shouted.  
Call was with them a moment later. She grabbed hold of one of Paris' arms. They both pulled.  
Paris screamed louder now and there came the fleshy sounds of flesh being eaten. Blood sprayed out of the air duct, pooling out around Paris' upper half.  
Another scream, then the man began to go slack in Call's grip. The creature that had him yanked again. And again. Amos lost his hold on Paris' left hand.  
There was a tearing sound and Paris' right arm ripped out of its socket. Both Call and Amos fell onto their asses as Paris was pulled all the way through the air duct. And into darkness.  
Syn, Traek and Lee - the latter letting Ripley go - ran to the air duct and started firing their weapons into the black hole. There was no telling if they hit anything. Call only heard distant shrieks. Amos curled up into a ball, holding Paris' arm.  
Finally, they all stopped firing. Backed away from the air duct.  
Call slowly stood up. She was covered in the fallen soldier's blood. She shook her head. Turned to Ripley. "We have to get out of here."

Slowly, and with some effort, the elevator doors slid open. Ripley and Call peeked into the open shaft from either side of the door. Call didn't see anything, turned to Ripley. They both nodded.  
Call turned to the others. "It's clear."  
"For now," Ripley added.  
Syn nodded. "That's good enough for me. We climb."  
"Up or down?" Lee asked.  
"Up," Syn answered.  
Ripley chuckled.  
Syn shot her a murderous look. "Something funny?"  
"You," Ripley said at once. "You're funny. All of you."  
Traek took a step towards her. "Why?"  
"You're scared," Ripley explained.  
"Any reason we shouldn't be?" Lee said.  
"No," Ripley said. "Fear's good. But you have to use it. We go down."  
"But that's where those things are!" Syn said.  
"Exactly," Ripley said. "We take them out. How many are there?" She looked around. "Does anyone know?"  
Traek sighed. "We don't know for sure. At least nine. That's how many I've seen. Considering how many smugglers there were and how many we've killed, I can't rule out that there are as many as thirteen."  
Ripley nodded. "No problem, then. We have superior firepower. They don't have acid blood. We just take them all out."  
Traek clicked their tongue. "That might be a problem."  
Ripley cocked her head to one side. "Why's that?"  
Traek looked down. Lee looked at Syn. Finally, Syn spoke up. "We're almost outta ammo." He patted his rifle. "I've got half a clip left."  
"Me, too," Lee said.  
"Less than that," Traek said. They looked at Amos, who was still on the ground holding Paris' severed arm. "I don't know how many rounds Amos has left. Not a lot, I imagine."  
Ripley shook her head as Call turned away in frustration. Ripley approached Traek. "No wonder you wanted our weapons out of our hands so quickly. And now those are gone, too. I should beat each and every one of you to death with my bare hands."  
Traek held their ground. "That's constructive. Can you do that to those things out there."  
Ripley smirked, silent for a moment before she spoke. "I could take a few of them out, no problem. But if they ganged up on me." She shook her head. "Unlikely."  
Syn nodded. "Then we go up." He glanced at Ripley, then Call. "You two first, I think. You're gonna be our little canaries in the mine."  
"What are we going to accomplish by going up?" Call asked.  
"We're trying to get to the control room," Traek said. "We get a signal out then we wait for extraction."  
Call shook her head. "Not much of a plan."  
Syn approached her, pointing his rifle at the android. "But it works for now. Up!"  
Ripley moved fast. Grabbed the barrel of Syn's rifle and pushed it out of Call's face. Just as she was about to pull the weapon from the soldier's hands, Lee was across the room in an instant, the barrel of her rifle pressed against Ripley's temple.  
"I wouldn't," Lee said. "Now you two get in there."  
Ripley looked at Call. Call shrugged. "What choice do we have?"  
Ripley nodded slowly. A moment later, the two of them stepped into the small lip that looked down the elevator shaft. Into darkness.


	3. Chapter 3

Ripley and Call led the ascent up the elevator shaft. There were ladders on either side of the shaft, alongside the elevator doors. Emergency lighting provided a dim view of a deep pit below them and a hard climb above. Everything looked rusted. Tetanus was a definite possibility, along with any other dangers they may encounter.  
It had taken a little time to convince Amos to let go of Paris' arm and get him moving but he was here now. He was trailing behind them all, making his way slowly up the ladder behind Ripley and Call. On the opposite wall were Traek, Lee and Syn.  
It was hot. Steaming hot, like a sauna. Or a microwave. Ripley was sweating. The climb itself wasn't exactly challenging - not to her, at least - but it was a risk. Ripley was acutely aware of this. Without any weapons, she and Call were like sitting ducks. Well, climbing ducks, she supposed. Ripley chuckled.  
"There you go laughing again," Syn said from the other side of the elevator shaft. He gestured down the shaft. "Do you not grasp the gravity of our situation?"  
Ripley didn't look at him. Kept climbing. "I do."  
Syn shook his head. "Then kindly shut the fuck up."  
Call sighed in frustration. "Syn, why don't you do us all a favor and fall to your death?"  
Now it was Syn's turn to chuckle. It was entirely devoid of humor.  
Lee changed the conversation. "You still haven't told us why you're here."  
"That's because we didn't want to," Ripley said simply.  
"So, what - are you smugglers, gun runners?" Lee asked.  
Ripley nodded. "Smugglers, pirates, all-around bad guys. That's us."  
"Her, too?" Syn said, gesturing to Call.  
"Yeah, her, too," Ripley said. "She's the worst of us."  
"And it's just the two of you?" Lee said.  
Ripley still wouldn't look at them. Kept her gaze on the ladder and the way up. "Not exactly. Got a few other hard bastards with us."  
"And where would they be?" Syn asked.  
"Well, if I know them," Ripley said, "and I should by now, then they're probably waiting for us up there in the control room. Weapons at the ready."  
"That's funny, lady," Syn said. "Real funny."  
Ripley finally shot him a look. "Now who's the one who doesn't grasp the gravity of the situation?"  
Syn was silent. His cruel smile slowly turned into a scowl. He looked away. Ripley grinned.  
There was silence for a moment as they made their ascent. Ripley found herself settling into a rhythm: hand, foot, hand, foot. Efficient, strong.  
Then she heard something. And stopped.  
Something below all of them. Moving.  
Across the pit, Traek also stopped. Now both parties were stationary. Traek looked over at Ripley. "You hear that?"  
Ripley nodded. "We have to move quicker."  
She doubled her efforts. They all did. Because whatever it was that they were hearing was getting closer.  
From below came a high, nightmarish shriek. Ripley risked a glance down and saw the first of them - those horrid, white monstrosities - leap out of the darkness into their line of sight. Its claws dug into the corroded metal of the interior elevator shaft five meters below Amos. Its head slowly turned towards them. Eyeless but aware.  
Ripley looked at the three armed soldiers across from her. "Kill it!"  
Syn nodded and he and Lee aimed at the creature. Fired. Their shots were short, controlled. They were rationing their precious, dwindling ammo.  
The first few shots went wide, hitting the dirty wall beside the neomorph and ricocheting down the shaft. The creature made another mighty leap up towards them.  
Lee fired a second volley of shots. This time, they found their mark. Two rounds took the creature in the right shoulder. The neomorph screamed as its right arm instantly became useless, dangling by a small strip of flesh. It lost its balance and slipped down a meter. Caught itself. The second of Lee's shots took it mid-chest, burning a hole through it.  
The creature let go of the wall in pain and fell shrieking into darkness. Its cries echoed long after it hit the bottom many levels below.  
Lee smiled in satisfaction. Ripley wanted to celebrate it with her but it would be futile. More of the creatures were coming. Lots more.  
Their shrieks echoed up the elevator shaft, bouncing off the walls and filling Ripley's ears. She shook it off and continued up.  
Below, three more beasts jumped towards them - one beneath Ripley's group, two beneath Traek's group. Syn took aim and fired three times at the two creatures below him. One of them was torn to pieces, its head bursting open under the impact of the high-velocity rounds.  
The creature below Ripley's group reached up and almost took hold of Amos' right foot. Barely missed. Amos himself seemed oblivious. His gaze was directed towards the wall and ladder directly in front of his face. He seemed out of touch, not-quite-there at all.  
Traek took aim across the shaft and fired a small volley of shots. They all struck the neomorph in the back. White blood erupted from its body and it fell screaming down the elevator shaft.  
Ripley shot a look at Traek. Nodded. Traek nodded back.  
Lee fired at the remaining creature on their tail but missed. Syn took aim, squeezed the trigger of his weapon. There was only a click. He was out of ammo. "Shit!"  
Lee looked down at him, panic beginning to overtake her. She almost dropped her rifle. As she fumbled to retrieve it, Syn huffed in frustration.  
The creature reared back and took a flying leap up. It passed right by Syn and wrapped its long, deadly arms around Lee's midsection. The woman began to scream.  
Traek aimed down at them from above but Ripley could see that she couldn't get a clear shot. Syn was in her line of fire.  
The neomorph bit down on Lee's right shoulder. There was a sickening crunch and blood sprayed from the wound.  
The thing tore into the woman, tearing a great chunk of flesh and bone out of her. As it reared its head back for another strike, Lee's right arm dropped to her side, useless. Her weapon slipped from her hand and fell down the shaft. It hit one of the sides fifteen meters down, clanged and bounced, falling into darkness.  
Ripley was surprised by a sudden burst of gunfire. She looked to its source. Amos was firing at the neomorph and Lee. He kept his finger on the trigger of his weapon - full auto. Both the creature and the woman were shredded.  
Lee was dead in seconds, her eyes rolling over white, head whipping back - limp. The creature screeched as bullets peppered its body.  
A moment later both of them fell down the shaft. Amos kept firing at them as they fell.  
"That's enough!" Ripley shouted.  
"Cease fire, Amos, Goddammit!" Syn screamed.  
"You're wasting ammo!" Traek said.  
Finally, he stopped firing. Ripley shook her head in frustration. She looked up. There was the door. Only meters above.  
She pushed herself even harder. She could hear screams coming from below - more of them, headed up the shaft.  
Ripley reached the door and stood on the small lip at its base, waited for Call. When the smaller woman was close enough, Ripley reached out and helped her up. Call took her partner's hand and Ripley lifted her up onto the lip. They got to work prying the doors open.  
There were two sturdy metal beams that extended across the shaft at the base of the elevator doors. Traek and Syn reached them and tentatively stepped out onto the narrows beams. They found their balance and started across them, inching their way to the other side.  
Another shriek of rage from below. They were getting closer.  
Ripley and Call finally managed to pry the doors open. They immediately proceeded inside the control room floor.  
Call helped Amos in, then took a step out onto the lip, encouraging the other two to hurry up. Ripley shook her head. She half wanted to simply shut the doors on the other two but she knew that Call wouldn't allow it. She was programmed to care for humans, regardless of who they were.  
Traek reached the other side of the shaft and Call helped her in. Syn was a meter behind her.  
Just as he reached the other side, a neomorph jumped into view. It clung to the opposite wall, leering at them.  
Syn jumped the rest of the way, landing on the floor behind Traek and Ripley, banging into Amos. Call yelped in fear at the creature and Ripley grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her inside.  
Syn and Traek were on the elevator doors immediately, yanking open a panel and pulling a manual emergency lever. The doors shut instantly. Ripley saw the creature leap towards them in the final split second before the doors closed on it, sealing it inside the shaft.  
All of them collapsed to the ground, exhausted. They were all drenched in sweat. Their breathing was labored. Amos began to cough violently.  
Call knelt down to comfort him. She was the only one not affected by the rigors of the climb. "You okay?"  
Amos didn't answer. From her sitting position nearby, Ripley observed the man. Narrowed her eyes. "Something's wrong."  
Call shot a look at her. "What?"  
"With him! Something's wrong!"  
Amos doubled over. He was coughing harder now, blood pouring down his chin. His neck and face were red. He reared back his head and screamed.  
"He's got one inside him!" Ripley screamed.  
Amos' neck bulged. It looked like a red, expanding balloon. Call's eyes widened. She fell onto her ass and began to back away, scooting as fast as she could.  
The balloon that was once Amos' neck popped. It was filled with blood. Call was instantly covered in red. A white, writhing shape burst forth from the man's neck: a small neomorph. Newborn.  
It shrieked and came for Call.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in this story. Stuff in real life got in the way a lot lately. Hopefully there won't be as big a gap between this section and the next.


End file.
